USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume I > Part 30
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Noble Jones, who came to Georgia with Oglethorpe, established his home at Wormsloe on the Isle of Hope, near Savannah, an old estate still owned and occupied by his descendants. He became Colonial Justice and Treasurer for Georgia and to the last remained loyal to the Crown of England; but his son, Noble Wymberley Jones, signed a call for the earliest meeting of the patri- ots in Savannah; was uncompromising in his opposi-
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tion to the oppressive acts of the British Parliament; was deposed from the office of Speaker of the Georgia House of Assembly by Governor Wright; and in tribute to his fidelity as a patriot was styled "one of the morning stars of liberty." Nevertheless, such was his filial devotion, that he declined to leave his father's sick bedside to at- tend the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
To the Colonial era of Savannah's history belongs an English baronet-Sir Patrick Houstoun.
The nobility of Europe was represented by few scions of the purple in the wilderness belt of North America; and the prestige in the Colony enjoyed by this gentleman of rank was somewhat unique. But notwithstanding the royal patents which bound him to the Crown, two of the sons of this faithful old servitor became pronounced Whigs; and John Houstoun signed the famous card which first called the patriots together at Tondee's Tavern.
Joseph Clay was another conspicuous figure of early Colonial times in Savannah. He was a nephew of James Habersham, the old loyalist, but was himself an ardent rebel, like his cousins. With Joseph Habersham and several other bold patriots, he took part in the famous raid on the powder magazine. He became Paymaster- General for the Southern Department of the Revolution, under General Greene; Treasurer of Georgia, and a member of the Continental Congress. His son, Joseph Clay, Jr., after serving on the Federal bench in Georgia became an eminent pulpit orator and for years served a church in Boston, Mass.
Chatham was represented in the Continental Con- gress by the following galaxy of patriots: Abraham Baldwin, Archibald Bulloch, Joseph Clay, William Gib- bons, John Habersham, John Houstoun, William Hous- toun, Richard Howley, Noble Wymberley Jones, Edward
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS. MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
Langworthy, William Pierce, Edward Telfair, George Walton and John J. Zubly.
The Signers of the Declaration of Independence were each for a time residents of Savannah. George Walton was living here when the instrument was signed. Button Gwinnett and Lyman Hall came afterwards.
Archibald Bulloch and John Houstoun-both residents of Savannah-were entitled to sign the Declaration, but Archibald Bulloch was detained in Georgia by his duties as President of the Executive Council, while John Hous- toun was called home to check-mate the activities of Dr. Zubly. The latter was one of the earliest of the patriots, but when he found that the Continental Congress was bent upon separation from England, he sought to keep Georgia anchored to the Crown. Though opposed to the tyrannical oppressions of England he believed that more could be accomplished by vigorous protest within the pale of allegiance than by open rebellion against the con- stituted authorities.
Mr. Bulloch was an ancestor of Ex-President Theo- dore Roosevelt. The old patriot was not spared to wit- ness the successful conclusion of the war with England; but was privileged while President of the Executive Council to read the Declaration of Independence to the assembled populace at the seat of government.
Most of the members of the Council of Safety during the Revolution were residents of Savannah.
Conspicuous among the representatives of Chatham in the drama of hostilities were: General Lachlan Mc. Intosh, General Samuel Elbert, the Habershams, Joseph, John and James, sons of the old loyalist, the Houstouns, John and William; Colonel George Walton, Captain Hugh McCall, Major James Jackson, Major George Hadley, Major John Berrien, Commodore Oliver Bowen, John Milledge, William Pierce, Seth John Cuthbert, and a host of others.
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General Nathanael Greene, an officer of the Revolu- tion who ranked second only to Washington and who was instrumental in expelling the British from Georgia soil, settled at Mulberry Grove, an estate given to him by the Legislature of Georgia, fourteen miles above Savannah ; and General Anthony Wayne, an officer under him, also became a resident of Chatham at this time, but after- wards received an appointment from Washington which removed him to the North-west.
Colonel Samuel Hammond was also for several years a resident of Savannah. He afterwards became the first Governor of the Territory of Missouri.
Oliver Bowen and Joseph Habersham captured the first prize of war and officered the first vessel commis- sioned in the Colonies for naval warfare in the Revolu- tion. The former became a commodore in the navy, and the latter a major in the first Georgia battalion.
Since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, in 1789, the following distinguished citizens of Savannah have worn the toga of the United States Senate: James Gunn, James Jackson, Abraham Baldwin, George Walton, John Milledge, Josiah Tattnall, George Jones, William B. Bulloch, George M. Troup, Alfred Cuthbert, John Mac- Pherson Berrien, Robert M. Charlton, Thomas M. Nor- wood, and Pope Barrow-in all fourteen.
To the Supreme Bench of the United States, Savan- nah contributed James M. Wayne and to the Cabinet of the first President, Joseph Habersham.
The following residents of Chatham have occupied seats in the National House of Representatives; Abra- ham Baldwin, James Jackson, Anthony Wayne, Francis Willis, James Jones, Joseph Bryan, Samuel Hammond, Dennis Smelt, George Jones, George M. Troup, Thomas
* Strictly speaking the Postmaster-General was not at this time a Cab- inet official.
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Telfair, Alfred Cuthbert, John A. Cuthbert, Edward F. Tattnall, James M. Wayne, George W. Owens, Richard W. Habersham, John Millen, Joseph W. Jackson, Joseph W. Clift, William W. Paine, Andrew Sloane, Julian Hart- ridge, John C. Nicholl, Thomas M. Norwood, Rufus E. Lester, and Charles G. Edwards-in all twenty-seven.
To the Confederate Army, Savannah furnished the following Brigadier-Generals: E. P. Alexander, R. H. Anderson, Francis S. Bartow, George P. Harrison, Sr., George P. Harrison Jr., Henry R. Jackson, Alexander R. Lawton, Hugh W. Mercer and G. M. Sorrel. She also gave to the cause of the South, Major-General LaFayette M.cLaws and Commodore Josiah Tattnall. After the war, Major-General Jeremy F. Gilmer and Brigadier-General Peter McGlashan, both of North Carolina, became resi- dents of Savannah.
The defense of Savannah against General Sherman, in 1864, devolved upon Lieutenant-General William J. Hardee.
Here lived the great pioneer Baptist divine of Georgia, Dr. Henry Holcomb.
Savannah was also the home of Bishop Stephen Elliott, the first Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia, and the home of Bishop F. X. Gartland, the first Bishop of the See of Savannah.
The ante-bellum bar of Savannah-between 1830 and 1850-included Matthew Hall McAllister, Jeremiah Cuyler, William B. Bulloch, Levi DeLyon, Counsellor Leake, Mordecai Sheftall, Sr., John M. Berrien, George W. Owens, Richard W. Habersham, James M. Wayne, Joseph S. Pelot, Joseph W. Jackson, William Law, William W. Gordon, Richard R. Cuyler, Robert M. Charl- ton William H. Bulloch, William H. Stiles, Edward J. Hardin, George J. Kollock, John Millen, Charles S. Henry John E. Ward and a host of others hardly less distinguished.
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Judge McAllister removed to California, where he achieved fame as a jurist. John E. Ward became United States minister to China, after which he practiced law in the city of New York.
William W. Gordon relinquished the legal profession to become the first president of the Central of Georgia and the great railway pioneer of this State. The Cuylers also became identified with the development of railroads. William M. Wadley, another president of the Central, live at one time in Savannah.
Two of Georgia's most accomplished diplomats were residents of the forest city ; Henry R. Jackson and Alex- ander R. Lawton. The former was minister to Austria, during the administration of President Franklin Pierce, and minister to Mexico, during the first term of President Cleveland. The latter was minister to Austria, from 1885 to 1889. Both were Brigadier-Generals in the Con- federate Army, both leaders of the Savannah bar, both orators; and for years they were partners in the practice of law. Here Woodrow Wilson the twenty- eighth President of the United States, led to the altar, in 1885, an accomplished daughter of Savannah: Miss Ellen Louise Axson.
But the list is still incomplete without the contribu- tions of Savannah to the republic of letters. Her most distinguished authors include :
William Stephens, an early Governor, whose Journal is a mine of information in regard to Colonial times.
Captain Hugh McCall, an officer of the Revolution, who published in two volumes, the earliest succinct His- tory of Georgia, a work of great value, notwithstanding certain blemishes.
Dr. William Bacon Stevens, who wrote an excellent History of Georgia, a work which he completed after be- coming Bishop of Pennsylvania.
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Thomas U. P. Charlton, who wrote a Life of Major- General James Jackson.
Robert M. Charlton, his son, a United States Senator, who, at leisure intervals, wrote a number of graphic sketches, besides several poems of rare merit.
Dr. George White, a noted educator and divine, whose two volumes-Statistics of Georgia and Historical Col- lections of Georgia-are treasuries of information in regard to the various counties of the State, rich in the materials of antiquarian research.
Edward J. Hardin, the portrayer of an important epoch in his biography of George M. Troup.
General Henry R. Jackson, orator, diplomat, and soldier, who wrote the famous poem entitled: "The Red Old Hills of Georgia."
William T. Thompson, the noted humorist, who found- ed the Savannah Morning News and wrote Major Jones's Courtship, an ante-bellum classic. Judge Thomas M. Norwood who wrote a political novel called, "Plu- tocracy," besides a number of scathing satires.
And Colonel Charles C. Jones, Jr., the Georgia Macaulay, whose History of Georgia, in two volumes, is the most delightfully written, the most complete, and, the most authoritative work of the kind in existence. Colonel Jones removed from Savannah to Augusta, some time after the war, and there resided on the Sand Hills until his death.
CHATTAHOOCHEE
Created by Legislative Act, February 13, 1854, from Muscogee and Randolph Counties. Named for the river which borders it on the west. Cusseta, the county-seat, named for one of the principal tribes of the Lower Creek Indians.
"Chattahoochee": Gen. A. C. Gordon, of Alabama, in an What the Word old letter to the Columbus (Ga.) En- Means. quirer, gives the meaning of the word "Chattahoochee". Says he : "It means 'Red Rock'. The name was obtained from a rock found on the river
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banks, between Eufaula and Columbus. They used this rock for paint when on the war path. The Indians came a great distance to get this paint. It was red and hard to rub off. I tried to get the Indians to pilot me to the place where they obtained it, but they invariably re- fused."
Original Settlers. See Muscogee and Randolph, from which counties Chattahoochee was formed.
E. A. Flewellyn and James A. Smith, who represented Chattahoochee in the Secession Convention, at Milledge- ville, were both pioneer settlers.
CHATTOOGA
Created by Legislative Act, December 28, 1838, from Floyd. and Walker Counties. Named for the principal river which flows through the county, called by the Cherokee Indians "Chattooga." Summerville, the county-seat. Origin of the name unauthenticated, but probably given to the town because of its picturesque environment in a beautiful open valley of the mountains.
Indian Villages. In the vicinity of Summerville there were once two Indian villages-Broom Town and Island Town-whose chiefs were very im- portant men in the Cherokee nation.
Old Broom, the chief of the former village, affixed his signature to a treaty which was concluded at Tellico, October 24, 1804.
Cabin Smith, the chief of the latter village, signed two treaties-one at the Cherokee Agency, July 8, 1817, and one in the city of Washington, D. C., February 24, 1819.
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Original Settlers. According to White, the original set- tlers of Chattooga were: Robert Came- ron, Charles Price, Francis Kirby, John Lamar, William McConnell, Isaac Chandler, James Herndon, James Wells, John Johnson, Philip Burns, Sanders Dickson, William Price, Hugh Montgomery, Albert Mitchell, Ed- ward Adams, Reuben Slaton, N. Allman, Elijah Mosley, Thomas Tredaway, Albert Quinn, Joseph Crook, Charles A. Heard, John F. Beavers, Hugh McMullin, and James Price.
Judge A. P. Allgood was also an early resident of Chattooga, coming to this county with his father, De Forrest Allgood, from Walker. He established the famous cotton mills at Trion. In 1890, Mr. A. S. Hamilton was elected president and treasurer of the company owning this power plant, and, under his management, the capacity of the plant has more than doubled. It is one of the largest cotton mill establishments in the South. Trion was the name given to both the town and the factory by a trio of men-Allgood, Marsh, and Briers-who were the originators of this great industrial enterprise, in 1836.
To the list of early settlers should be added: Wesley Shropshire, Dr. Robert Y. Rudicill, Calvin Cordle, and others. Besides there, some of the oldest families of the county include : the Johnstons, the Penns, the Rushes, the Kings, and the Palmours.
Men of Note. Sequoya, the famous Indian half-breed, who invented the Cherokee alphabet, lived for a while near Alpine, in the County of Chattooga. He was known among the whites as George Guess. To com- memorate the achievement of this singular genius the great redwood trees of California have been christened the Sequoias.
Judge John W. Maddox, of Rome, a former member of Congress, was born in Chattooga.
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Here the late Colonel William C. Glenn, once Attorney- General of the State, first saw the light of day. His father, Jesse Glenn, commanded a regiment during the Civil War, and, on the eve of the surrender, was nomi- nated by President Davis for promotion to the rank of Brigadier-General.
Dr. William S. Kendrick, of Atlanta, a distinguished physician, formerly lived in Chattooga.
CHEROKEE
Created by Legislative Act, Dec. 26, 1831, out of the Cherokee lands. Named for the famous Cherokee nation of Indians who formerly occupied the mountainous region of Upper Georgia. The land was surveyed six years prior to the final deportation and formed into a single county of vast dimensions called Cherokee. The name is derived from Chera, a word signifying "fire." The prophets of the nation were called Chera-log.hye, or "men of fire," in recognition of the divine unction received by them from the Great Spirit. Twenty-three counties have been formed from the original county of Chero. kee as follows: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Cobb, Dade, Dawson, Douglas, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Lumpkin, Milton, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Towns, Union, Walker and Whitfield. The county- seat of Cherokee is Canton. There are numerous towns in the United States bearing this name. It is not unlikely that some of them were so called after the most ancient city of Southern China; but the rugged character of the landscape in this picturesque region of the State is more suggestive of the far-famed cantons of Switzerland.
The Cherokees were the prehistoric mountaineers of the Southern Appalachians. They occupied at one time an area of country embracing 40,000 square miles. It reached from the Blue Ridge, on the east, to the Cumber- land range, on the west; while the rich intermediate valleys were thickly settled with populous towns and villages for a distance of several hundred miles. The Cherokees were the most cultured Indians on the conti- ment of North America. They possessed not only a written language, but a well-organized government, based upon Constitutional law. Toward the last, only a frag- ment of the vast forest empire of the Cherokees remained, due to the steady incursions of the white settlers; and for several years prior to the removal of the tribes to
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the Indian Territory, the capital of the nation was at New Echota, in Gordon County, in an angle of land between the Coosawattee and the Connassauga Rivers.
Indian Villages. Old Sixes, an Indian town, was situated about seven miles south-west of Canton.
In 1833, it numbered a population of 400. Old Stop was the chief.
Ball Ground, a village some ten miles to the north- east of Canton, occupies the site where an Indian town stood. The name was derived from the favorite sport of the savage tribes, and it may have been given in this instance to commemorate the famous game which was played between the Creeks and the Cherokees to settle a disputed boundary line.
Little River Town was an Indian village located four- teen miles to the south-east of Canton. At the time of the removal it possessed a population of 300.
The county of Cherokee is rich in minerals. Soon after Governor Joseph E. Brown settled in Canton for the practice of law, he purchased a tract of land in the neighborhood for which he paid $450. It was found to contain a rich mine of copper, a half interest in which the Governor afterwards sold for $25,000; and this hand- some sum of money which he wisely invested in pro- ductive farm lands in Cherokee became the basis of a fortune which, at the time of his death, ran into seven figures. Gold in rich deposits has been found in the neighborhood of Canton. The Franklin mine is one of the richest in Georgia. During the past sixty years it has yielded large quantities of the yellow metal.
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Much of the marble quarried at Tate is fashioned into beautiful forms of art at Canton. The industry began in a small shop opened by Capt. T. M. Brady, some time in the early nineties. There was no machinery employed at this initial stage and everything was wrought by hand. But Mr. Brady, in 1894, secured the contract for the famous Lion of Lucerne, an artistic monument of great beauty erected to the unknown Confederate dead in At- lanta. An object of universal admiration, the monument is almost an exact reproduction of the far-famed original, carved in the living rock of the Swiss Alps. From a modest beginning the enterprise has developed into a great plant. On the death of Mr. Brady, the executive management devolved upon Mr. R. T. Jones, the present official head of the marble works, under whom the enter- prise has taken no backward step. There has never been any disorder or discontent among the labor legions em- ployed in this extensive industry; and from the busy marble works at Canton the most beautiful of ornamental stones have been shipped to every part of the United States and to far-distant Europe.
The former home of Georgia's War Governor, near the town center of Canton, has been converted into a handsome city park, owned and kept by the local authori- ties. It was deeded to the town for this purpose by the heirs of Governor Brown. The park is a beauty spot, adorned with flower beds and shaded by luxuriant trees.
Cherokee in the At the outbreak of the war with Mexico, Mexican War. in 1846, a company was organized and equipped in Cherokee called the Canton Volunteers. It left for the front with the famous Georgia Regiment of Volunteers, in command of Colonel Henry
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R. Jackson of Savannah. Its officers were as follows: Captain, K. Gramling; 1st Lieut., A. Keath; 2nd Lieut., W. F. Mullens ; Sergeants, W. G. Gramling, S. J. Cook, D. F. Daniel, N. F. Strain; Corporals, John G. Rhodes, Allen Moody, Robert S. Knox, Joshua Hughes. 90 mem- bers enrolled.
Besides giving Georgia a war Governor who held office from 1857 to 1865-covering the entire period of hostilities-the County of Cherokee was gallantly repre- sented on the Confederate muster-rolls.
History of the Fa- mous "Joe Brown" Pike. Volume II.
Reinhardt College, a co-educational school, controlled by the North Georgia Methodist Conference, is located at Waleska. It was founded in 1884 and named for Lewis W. Reinhardt who located here in the early thirties before the removal of the Cherokee Indians. He built and estab- lished on this site a church called Reinhardt chapel. The board of trustees was formally organized in 1885 with Mr. J. J. A. Sharp, one of the most zealous pioneers of education in this part of the State, as chairman. The college was in fact the outgrowth of a school which he built at Waleska.
Original Settlers. As given by White, the original settlers of Cherokee were: Daniel H. Bird, John P. Brooks, John Wagner, General Eli McConnell, John McConnell, John B. Garrison, R. F. Daniel, James Daniel, William Grisham, John Eperson, Washington Lumpkin, Henry Cobb, Charles Christian, John Maddox,
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Thomas Johnston, William Greene, Samuel Tate, Peter Kuykendall, John P. Winn, Joseph S. Dyer, Martin Evans, John M. Chambers, Joseph Donaldson, Merrick Ford, E. Putnam, T. Chamlee, S. Rucker, James Dorris, David Rusk, John Hunt, sen., John Leonard, William May, William Key, James A. Maddox, B. Bailey, John Mullins, John Pugh, John Henson, John Wheeler, Henry Wheeler, P. C. Boger, E. Dyer, and others.
Samuel Freeman, a soldier of the Revolution, is buried in an unmarked grave at Canton. John T. Hughes, also a patriot of '76, is buried at Hickory Flat. His grave is likewise unmarked. Two miles west of Waleska, in a private burial ground, sleeps an old patriot by the name of Branham or Brannan.
Cherokee's Distin- To the County of Cherokee belongs
guished Residents. the unique honor of having furnished the only instance on record in the his- tory of the State where father and son have held the office of Chief Magistrate. Joseph E. Brown was Geor- gia's famous war Governor, remaining continuously at the helm of affairs from 1857 to 1865. Joseph M. Brown succeeded to the gubernatorial chair in 1908; and, after a brief interval of retirement, was again made Governor in 1911. The elder Brown was at one time Chief Justice of the State and twice a Senator of the United States. During the days of Reconstruction he was ostracised by reason of his position on public issues ; but when calmer views prevailed he was recalled to power and at the time of his death was the most commanding force in public affairs. Governor Brown by prudent investments accu- mulated a large fortune. His judgment became a proverb. On resigning the ermine he was made presi-
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dent of a company leasing the Western and Atlantic Rail- road, an office which he filled for twenty years. The elder Brown was not a native of Cherokee; but he located in Canton when a young man. On the outskirts of the town is the famous wheat field in which he was binding wheat when he received the news of his nomination for Gov- ernor. The younger Brown was born in Cherokee. As the author of "Astyanax," a tale of pre-historic America, he is not unknown to the world of letters. He became Governor after serving on the Railroad Commission from which he was displaced somewhat arbitrarily by Governor Hoke Smith. Judge James R. Brown, a brother of Geor- gia's war Governor, himself a distinguished jurist, re- sides in Canton. Here also lived Dr. John W. Lewis, an early benefactor of Governor Brown, who in after years appointed him a Senator of the Confederate States.
CLARKE
Created by Legislative Act, December 5, 1801, from Jackson County, originally Franklin. Named for General Elijah Clarke, of the Revolution. Athens, the county seat, named for the renowned capital of ancient Attica. When first organized in 1801 Clarke included Oconee.
On Broad street, in the city of Athens, there stands an impressive monument of white marble on which the following inscription is lettered :
"General Elijah Clarke, 1736-1799. Erected by Elijah Clarke Chapter, Daughters American Revolu- tion 1904.
Says Colonel Absalom H. Chappell : "If I were asked to name the man who was most to be dreaded by the sav- age foe, who rendered the greatest service to the exposed frontier, who was ever foremost in doing or attempting whatever was best for the security and advancement of the State-who, whilst he lived made himself strongly
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felt wherever he took part-and who now, when we look back, continues still to be seen in the mind's eye, stalking sternly with his armor on, across the troublous space which he once so bravely filled in our dim historic past- his stalwart war-hardened form yet dominant on the theatre where he was so long wont at different periods to suffer, fight, and strive for Georgia, not against the Indians only but against the British and the Tories also -my prompt answer would be Elijah Clarke."
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